


Raising Robins

by theunseeliemperoress



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DC Comics
Genre: De-Aged Dick Grayson, De-Aged Tim Drake, Gen, de-aged Jason Todd, de-aged batbros, de-aged damian wayne, permanent de-aging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-05-03 06:41:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14563254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theunseeliemperoress/pseuds/theunseeliemperoress
Summary: An undercover mission goes wrong leaving the four batboys 13 years younger. Now Bruce has to raise four small kids three of which have no memory of who he is. Still at least they have a chance of growing up a little less messed up right?





	1. De-aging Robins

Pushing with all his might Dick tried to force the door open. It didn’t budge.

“Damn it.” he hissed. He turned back to look at his brothers, who had been watching, and shook his head.

“Great! So we’re stuck here until someone unlocks the door.” Jason grumbled.

“Looks like it.” Dick sighed sitting on the floor.

“A simple undercover mission. And you screwed it up.” Jason continued.

“Because you’re such an innocent bystander.” Tim mumbled, he was the only one not sitting down, as he looked up to the ceiling. Then a little louder he said “Is it just me or is the ceiling moving?” The other three looked up just as the ceiling split open and a long metal spike came into view.

“Shit!” Jason hissed. Dick opened his mouth to say something, but he never got to say it.

***

Bruce frowned as he listened to the scientist. What she was saying couldn’t be true. This was a joke right? But she sounded so serious.

“I’m sorry I really am. But we can’t reverse the process.”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“Mr Wayne their cells have been reversed by thirteen years. We’re lucky the process didn’t do any damage. But reversing the process would almost certainly kill them.” Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Can I at least take them home?” She nodded.

“Of course.” She lead him into another room where a young security guard was sat at a table showing Dick and Jason something on his phone. Tim had crawled under the table and Damian was wrapped in the guards jacket and was lying on the couch. When he spotted Bruce Dick jumped up and ran over to him and wrapped his arms around his legs. The boy had a big grin on his face but Bruce could tell he’d been crying.

“Are we going home now?” he asked. Bruce nodded.

“Yes. We are.” he looked over to Jason and Tim. “All of us.”


	2. Breakfast

The sound of screaming was what woke Bruce up the next day. He rushed to Tim’s room to find his second youngest son shaking almost violently with fear under his covers. Bruce sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. He knew Tim had grown up suffering from vivid nightmares, and it seemed he’d had one tonight. Unsure what to do Bruce pulled the covers back to reveal the four year old's frightened tear stained face.

“Did you have a nightmare?” Tim nodded. “Do you want to tell me about it?” A shake this time. “No? Ok well it’s time to get up now.” Tim sat on the edge of the bed and Bruce lifted him down onto the floor. Even for a four year old Tim was tiny. Tim slipped one hand into Bruce’s and placed the thumb of his other into his mouth. “I’m guessing you want breakfast?” A nod. Bruce frowned a little as he lead Tim to the dinning room. He hadn’t said a word since he’d been de-aged. In the dining room they found Dick and Jason eating bowls of porridge. Cass was eating a banana and Alfred was setting down what Bruce guessed was Tim’s porridge.

“Ah master Bruce I see you’ve got master Tim up. I was just about to ask miss Cassandra if she would fetch him.” Bruce nodded in response, still half asleep, and helped Tim onto the chair next to Dick. “It should be cool enough for him to eat.” Alfred continued. Tim looked at the bowl and pulled a face.

“He doesn’t like it.” Jason announced. Dick leaned closer to the four year old’s face.

“Come on Timmy try to eat some.” Tim looked him right in the eye, and pushed the bowl of the table. It hit the floor face down the contents spilling everywhere.

“Tim!” Bruce snapped. Tim turned to look at him. He didn’t seem upset at being yelled at. Though he didn’t seem to be enjoying it.

“I’ll clean that up.” Alfred sighed as he left to fetch a cloth. Bruce took a long sip of coffee and Cass stood up and left. She returned with some peach yogurt and a spoon.

“This good?” she asked showing it to Tim. He nodded. She peeled the lid off and placed it in front of him.

“Do you really think he should get his way after acting like that?” Bruce asked as he pulled Jason’s bowl away to stop him from licking it like a dog. Cass pointed at Tim.

“Doesn’t speak. Like me. Talks with actions.” Bruce sighed. She had a point. He turned to Dick, who was pushing his near empty bowl towards Jason.

“Dick do you want to stay here with Cass and Duke or come to the store with me?”

“I want to go to the store.”

“I want to stay.” Jason piped up. Bruce shook his head.

“Sorry Jay lad you have to come.” Jason opened his mouth to argue but was quickly silenced by a swift kick from Dick. “No fighting you two. Now go get dressed.”


	3. McDonalds With Robins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure what's up with the spacing. I'll try to fix it when I have access to a computer.

“Jason stop!” Dick screamed as the six year old continued to pull on his leg.

“Jason let your brother go.” Bruce scolded.

“He’s not my brother.”  
  
“Let him go or I’ll put you in the toddler reins.” Jason let go and jumped up.

“I’m not a baby!” he screeched.  
  
“Then stop acting like one.” Dick retorted.

“Who’s hungry?” Bruce interrupted.

“Meee!” Jason replied.

“I want McDonalds.” Dick added. Bruce looked down at Tim, who hadn’t even taken the stuffed lamb out of his mouth.

“What about you Timmy boy? Hungry?” A tiny nod. “Ok we’ll go to McDonalds.” Usually Bruce would have said no, but given recent events…He watched as Dick took Jason’s hand to cross the road. Last night Bruce had to sit Jason and Tim down and explain to them that their parents weren’t around anymore and that this was their home now. Jason had cried and screamed that Bruce was a liar, and a mean one at that, before realising he wasn’t lying. He’d cried himself to sleep that night. Today he seemed fine. Tim on the other hand hadn’t reacted. He didn’t cry or ask questions. In fact he still hadn’t said a word.

***

Bruce had just taken them to the shops to pick out new clothes and toys. To say Jason had been excited was an understatement. Dick had to keep dragging him back to wherever Bruce was after he’d ran off. Bruce would have gone after him himself but chasing someone when you have a pushchair isn’t easy. He half regretted deciding to take them out on his own. The plan had been he would take the boys out to pick out some new stuff, while Cass and Duke helped Alfred rearrange the rooms to be more child friendly, and buy furniture for Damian’s nursery. He’d thought Alfred could have done with the extra hands. Now he realised he was the one who needed them. But at the same time It was nice to be doing something with the boys, something that wasn’t Batman related. He looked down at Damian who looked up at him with dark brown eyes. A small smile leaked onto Bruce’s face.How many times had he found himself wondering how things would have been if he’d been the one to raise Damian instead of Talia. It looked like he would now find out.

***

The McDonalds was almost empty, thank God Bruce thought, so finding a table wasn’t hard. Once the three older boys had their lunch he turned his attention to Damian, who had started making a fuss.

“I suppose you’re hungry too.” he said pulling a bottle out of the bag. Looking round for wherever he was supposed to heat the milk he spotted a sign pointing behind the stairs. “I’ll be back in a minuet. You boys stay put.” Dick nodded, Jason was too busy covering his ears, and Tim kept sharing his food with his toy lamb. It had been the first thing he’d picked up at the store and he hadn’t put it down since. They had to snap the tag off just to pay for it. Tim had picked out other toys but it was clear Lamby, as Dick had decided it should be called until Tim named it, was going to be a favourite.

***

Bruce was pulled from his train of thought by a scream. He looked round to see Jason standing there sobbing and staring at the Ronald Mc Donald statue. Without thinking Bruce rushed over to him and picked him up.

“It’s ok Jason it’s just a statue look.” He reached out and touched the statue. Jason just screamed louder. “Ok. OK. You don’t have to look. Let’s just go back to the table.” Still carrying Jason he picked up the baby bottle and walked back to where the others sat. Carefully Bruce sat Jason down before picking up Damian and sitting down next to him. Eagerly Damian gulped down his bottle, while Jason clung to Bruce’s arm wearily eyeing the stairs that hid the statue.

“He wanted to ask you something.” Dick explained his voice apologetic.

“And what was that?” Bruce asked Jason. Jason mumbled something into Bruce’s arm. “Jason I can’t hear you.”

“How long will we be staying with you?” He asked a little louder. Bruce frowned, as he shifted Damian to burp him.

“What do you mean?”

“How long will we be staying with you before you send us away?”

“Jason who told you I was going to send you away?“ He glanced at Dick who made a I don’t know noise.

“My dad said if anything happened to him or mommy I’d be sent to live somewhere else. And then when they got sick of me they'd send me away. That’s why I shouldn’t snitch.” Carefully so as to not squash Damian Bruce pulled Jason onto his lap.

“Jason I’m not going to send you away. If I was going to I wouldn’t have adopted you.”   
  
“What’s adopted?” Jason asked.

“It’s when someone who’s not family becomes your legal parent.”Jason frowned.

“So my dad’s not my dad anymore?”

“Jason your dad will always be your dad. It’s just he can’t look after you anymore. So I will until you’re old enough to look after yourself. And even then I’ll be there if you need me.“ He looked over to Dick and Tim. “All of you.” Dick nodded at Jason, who in turn smiled back. Tim was looking off into the distance. “You ok there Timmy?” Tim pointed. Turning to look where he was pointing Bruce saw he had his eye on the McFlury machine. “Do you want ice cream?”

“Ice cream ice cream!” Jason squealed.

“Careful don’t hit Damian. OK you three can have ice cream just this once. But don’t tell Alfred.“


	4. Decorating With Robins

The five of them came home to find Alfred carrying a tray of lemonade.

“Ah master Bruce you’re back. Miss Stephanie came round to visit miss Cassandra. She’s been updated on current events.” Bruce nodded. “She’s upstairs helping with the nursery.” Alfred continued.

“Helping how?” Bruce asked

"I don’t know, they wouldn’t let me in. I hoped to bribe them with refreshments.“

"Well I hope they won’t be long. Damian’s getting cranky.“ The two men made their way up the stairs. Alfred carrying the tray of lemonade and Bruce Damian. Closely followed by the three older boys. Bruce was surprised, though not unhappy, to see Jason was holding Tim’s hand. When they reached the nursery the door was slightly ajar and they could hear the two girls giggling from inside.

“Cass, Steph what are you girls doing in there?” There was a pause then the door opened slightly.

“Hi Bruce.” Steph was beaming, and had blue paint all over her hands and face. She looked down at Damian her mouth forming an oh shape. “Is that Damian? I didn’t realise he’d be that tiny.” As she was cooing at Damian Cass came up behind and tapped her on the shoulder. “What? Oh right.” She took a step back. “Come see what we’ve done.” Bruce stepped into the room. The walls were sky blue with clouds painted on. On one wall the girls had painted different birds in flight. Looking behind him Bruce saw another bird had been painted perched on the light switch. A robin. The only other decoration was a large round green rug covered with images of bugs. On the rug in the middle of the room was a crib, light brown with sheets the same shade of green as the rug. A baby changing station sat next to the wardrobe in one corner. In the other sat a blue baby bouncer. Next to which was a little storage unit with green and blue drawers. Bruce turned to Steph and Cass.

“Did you do all this yourselves?”

"Steph’s idea.“ Steph nodded.

“Have you done this sort of thing before?”

"Yep. Well not nursery’s but I’ve redecorated my room before.” She glanced at the floor.“I’d save up some cash and whenever things got bad at home I’d buy some pots of paint, and maybe salvage some stuff from from a skip and redecorate my room. I haven’t done it in a while though. Actually kinda missed it.“ Bruce was just about to say something when he was interrupted by Duke yelling,

“Jason! Tim! What are you doing!?” Racing into the hallway Bruce saw Jason had dipped his hands in an open paint tin and was decorating the wallpaper. Tim, not wanting to be left out, had one foot in a tin of red paint, and the other covered in blue. The blue tin in question was tipped over contents spreading over the carpet. Without missing a beat Steph picked up the tin and lifted Tim onto her hip, before pulling Jason from the wall.

“Come on boys that’s naughty.” She scolded. Jason looked sulky and Tim stared at her the same blank expression as always on his face.

“I didn’t know you liked kids.” Duke commented. Steph looked thoughtful.

“I don’t like them. But I don’t hate them. I’ve just done the odd baby sitting job.” she looked at Bruce. “Hint hint.” Bruce rolled his eyes.

“We going?” Cass asked.

“Oh right. Uh…” Steph looked around for somewhere to put Tim down, before setting him down on the sheet they’d been using to protect the carpet. “Well we’re off.” She grabbed Cass’s hand and lead her down the hall.

“Where are you two going?”

“Cinema.” Cass called back.

“Don’t you think you should wash the paint off first?”

“We’ll make a stop at my place.” Steph called back as they disappeared around the corner.   
  
“Well.” Duke said downing his glass of lemonade. “If were finished with decorating I’ll be going to. Before the arcade closes.” He put the glass back on the tray and left.

“Well I suppose you’d better have this.” Alfred sighed handing one glass to Dick. Jason looked up expectantly. “After you’ve washed your hands.”

“And then you can help Alfred clean up the mess you made.” Bruce added.

“But…” Jason’s argument ended the moment he saw Bruce’s face.

“And what about master Tim?”

“I’ll clean him up after I’ve put Damian to sleep.”

“Very well.” Alfred headed down the hall, Jason close behind. Dick made his way to his room, glass of lemonade in one hand and two shopping bags in the other. Bruce turned to Tim who hadn’t moved an inch since Steph had put him down.

“Stay there.” Bruce ordered before going back into the nursery. Quickly and carefully as he could he changed Damian out of his day wear into his sleep wear, before carrying him to his crib. For a moment he stood there just holding him. Steph was right he really was tiny, Bruce was sure he could hold him in one hand, though he was scared to try. He had a lot of hair for a three month old and deep brown eyes. Thalia’s eyes. But what struck Bruce the most was the lack of scars. He was so used to seeing him covered in them it felt strange. But at the same time it felt good. He held the infant closer to him and whispered

“I promise I’ll do everything I can to protect you.” Before laying him down in his crib. Damian made a small snuffling sound, but was otherwise quiet. After closing the curtains Bruce went back into the hallway to find Tim still hadn't moved.

"Guess we'd better  better clean you up." He grabbed Tim under his arms and picked him up. Carrying him like that, so as to not get paint on his clothes, Bruce made his way to the nearest bathroom, where he set Tim down in the bath.

"Right give Lamby to me." Tim took a step  ack and shook his head. "Tim." Tim clutched Lamby closer to his chest. "Tim I'm not going to take him I just don't want to get him wet. Tim looked thoughtful before handing Lamby to Bruce, who put it on top of the laundry basket.

"Good boy. Ok pants off. " Tim did as he was told.Next Bruce soaked a flannel before adding soap. "Right let's get this paint off." He began rubbing Tim's left leg with the cloth.

"Ah!" Tim screamed. Bruce stopped.

"What's wrong? Am I rubbing too hard?" A nod. "I'll try to be gentle. But it's your own silly fault for standing in paint." He started rubbing again a little more gently this time. "Why would you do this?" Bruce muttered. Though he had a soft spot for kids be didn't always understand them. Especially Tim. Tim was a very odd child. It wasn't the lack of talking that unnerved Bruce, but the lack of expression. Most four year olds were very expressive. But all day Tim hadn't laughed, or cried or even smiled. He just stared blank faced. And his stare. Tim stared like he was looking at something just over your shoulder. Bruce remembered he'd done the same occasionally when he was older, though only when he was tired, now he did it all the time. Once he'd scrubbed all the paint off Bruce dried Tim off before lifting him out of the bath, handed Lamby back to him and carried him to his room. Once there Bruce saw the too large double bed had been removed and replaced with a toddler bed. He also saw the bags with Tim's clothes had been carried upstairs.

"Right. No point putting on clean clothes this late in the day, so let's get you into your pyjamas." Bruce helped Tim take off his clothes and put on his pyjamas. "Do you want a lemonade?" Shake. "How about some juice?" Nod. "Ok." Ruce began to head out the door before being stopped by a tug in his sleeve. He looked down to see Tim reaching up as if asking to be picked up. Without a word Bruce lifted him up and carried him downstairs, passing Jason and Alfred as they went. Bruce got Tim a juice box before carrying him to where Dick was watching TV.

"Dick."

"Hmm."

"Could you watch Tim for a bit?" Dick looked round and smiled. "Sure Bruce." Bruce set Tim down next to Dick and left. As he left be heard Dick talking to Tim. "Are those the power rangers on your top? They're cool." Bruce smiled to himself.


	5. Robins Meet Selina

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place a few months after Bruce and Selina have married.

"So when are you going to tell Selina?" Bruce looked up at Duke who was standing next to him.

"Tell her what?" Duke raised an eyebrow. Sometimes he could do an eyebrow raise to rival Alfred's.

"You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking?" he sighed. "I mean about Dick and the others."

"Oh that."

"Bruce she's going to come home eventually. Heck she could find out before, seeing how everyone's talking." Bruce's frowned depend.

"That's what worrying me."

"Why?" Steph asked as she walked over with Cas.

"Because there are people who might take advantage of the situation."

"Ras?" Cas suggested. The moment she said it they all knew the answer.

"I wouldn't put it past him to have someone kidnap Damian to try again." Steph agreed.

"Not just Damian." Bruce sighed. "He's had his eye on Tim for a while remember?" The three kids looked at each other. They knew he was right, Bruce could see it in their eyes.

"Right. Well I'll be on high ninja alert." Steph half joked. 

"High ninja alert?" Duke's eyebrows were at risk of reaching his hairline. 

"I know what I said and I'm not taking it back."

"It's just an odd thing to say. How can you be on alert for ninjas? The whole point is you're not supposed to see them." Realising this argument was going to go on for a while Bruce stood up to leave.

"Don't stay up too long!" he called as he left the bat cave. As he left he heard the phone ring. Wondering who was calling at 5 in the morning he picked it up. "Hello."

"Hi Bruuucie." Bruce groaned internally. When Selina stretched out his name like that, one or two things were about to happen. She was either going to ask him for something she knew he wouldn't give her willingly. Or she was about to chew him out for something. 

"Oh hey Selina. How's things at the reserve?" 

"Oh great really great. I'll tell you all about it when I get home. But I have to ask is there something you're not telling me? Something about the boys." 

"Selina I was going to tell you."

  
"When? When I got home?" Bruce rubbed his chin.

"No tomorrow."

"You Mr Wayne are a liar. Anyway I'm cutting my trip short. Things are going so well here and it seems you may be needing me back home. So I should be back tomorrow afternoon if not first thing Saturday morning. Oh and I have a surprise for you when I get home." Bruce sighed.

"I suppose there's no changing your mind."

"None at all. Now I've got to go. Love you bat."

"Love you cat."

***

Bruce watched the car pull up to the manor. The three older boys were peering out from behind the door. The cars engine was switched off and the drivers door opened. Selina stepped out and made her way towards him. In the three months she had been gone she'd grown her hair out and her already brown skin was even darker. But what really drew his attention was her stomach. Which was notably larger than the last time he'd seen her. Selina approached him and wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

"Missed you." she said with a grin, before taking a step back. "So can you guess what my surprise is?" Bruce glanced down.

"You're pregnant?" Selina laughed.

"Should have known you'd get it first try. Guess that's what I get for marrying a detective." Bruce didn't say anything. He honestly hadn't expected it so soon. They'd only tried once. His thought process was interrupted when he felt a tug on his shirt. He looked down to see Jason standing there looking from him to Selina and back.

"Hey trouble, do you want to say hi?"

  
"Hi." Selina bent down.

"Hi, you must be Jason." Jason nodded. "Well it's nice to finally meet you." She stood up and glanced towards the door. "And I'm guessing that's Tim over there with Dick." 

"Uh huh." Jason nodded. Selina waved at the other two boys. Dick waved back calling

"Hi Selina." Tim just kept staring one hand holding Dick's hand and the other clutching Lamby.

"Shy isn't he." she laughed. "Well I better get these bags upstairs." Dick let go of Tim and stepped out.

"I'll help."

"Thank you kitten. You can carry the smaller suitcase." 

"And when you're done come straight back down because we'll be having lunch now. Dick nodded grabbed the suitcase out of the trunk of the car and carried it inside. Selina picked up her larger suitcase and made her way up the front steps, Bruce and Jason close behind.

"Oh Bruce could you ask Alfred if he could make me something spicy? I've been craving something like that for a while but there was nothing at the reserve."  Bruce nodded before taking Tim's hand, as he showed no signs of moving from the door way, and leading him to the kitchen to find Alfred.

 

 


	6. Blanket Forts With Robins

“There’s something off about that boy.”  
“Hmm?” Bruce looked over to Selina, who was looking over at where the three older boys were playing. Or at least Dick and Jason were playing. They were running around chasing each other, Jason brandishing a toy sword. Tim was standing a little way off just staring at the manor.  
“Tim. He hasn’t said a word since I got here.”  
“He hasn’t spoken since the accident.” She turned to face him.  
“And that doesn’t bother you?”  
“Not really. I know he didn’t start talking until he was four the last time.” Selina looked thoughtful for a moment before sighing.  
“Well I suppose it’s not hurting anyone.” She looked back over to Tim who was now crouched on the ground digging at the dirt with his nails. They watched as he stopped digging and reached into the dirt. He pulled out worm and held it squirming in his fingers. Their eyes widened in horror as he shoved the worm in his mouth and swallowed.  
“Tim no!” Bruce yelled leaping up and rushing over. He grabbed Tim and turned him so they were face to face. “Tim spit it out!” he snapped. Tim opened his mouth wide to show the worm was gone. ‘Why would you do that?’ Tim just stared past him his eyes not focussing on anything.    
‘Bruce calm down kids do this all the time.’ Selina sighed. Bruce still wasn’t sure. The first night after the accident he’d stayed up reading up on taking care of infants and small children, and he’d ended up reading about a whole bunch of parasites that lived in the dirt that could easily kill a small child.  
‘Looks like it’s going to rain.’ Selina pointed out as she bent down and picked Tim up. He started whimpering and reaching for the ground. Selina bent down and picked up Lamby and handed him back to Tim, who promptly stuffed the toys ear in his mouth.  
‘He really likes sticking things in his mouth doesn’t he?’ she chuckled. The three made their way back inside, Bruce waving Jason and Dick inside just as the heaven’s opened. Selina was just about to put Tim down when there was a sudden flash of lightning shortly followed by a crash of thunder. Jason let out a shriek and burst into tears.  
‘Hey it’s ok it’s just a bit of thunder.’ Bruce tried to comfort the sobbing child. Jason just grabbed on to him and wouldn’t let him go. Sighing Bruce picked him up and Jason buried his head in his chest.  
‘Aww he’s scared of storms.’ Selina cooed. ‘Come on kitten it’s just a bit of thunder and lightning.’ But Jason wouldn’t calm down. Selina looked thoughtful then spoke. ‘Wait there.’ She disappeared leaving Bruce to try and comfort Jason. He tired to distract Jason with food. But that didn’t do much good. Eventually Selina came back in.  
‘You boys follow me.’ They followed her to the front room, where they saw she had set up a blanket fort. It had been set up in such a way that you could lie back on the pillows and still see the tv very clearly.  
‘Blanket forts always made me feel better when there was a storm.’ She told them. ‘Though the ones I made as a girl were a bit smaller than this.’ Before long the five of them, along with Duke and Cass were all sat in the fort watching The Aristocats. Bruce lay back with Selina resting her head on his shoulder. Cass leaned against him on the other side while Jason sat so he was practically on Selina’s lap. Dick would switch between lying next to Cass and sitting cross legged next to Duke, who insisted on sitting up. Tim sat near the edge of the fort closest to the screen. Every now and then he’d move closer and closer to the screen.  
‘Tim don’t sit so close.’ Bruce warned, but Tim didn’t budge. ‘Come on Timmy you’ll hurt your eyes.’ Instead Tim shifted closer to the screen. ‘Timothy I’m warning you.’ Selina moved over to where Tim was sat.  
‘Can hear the TV ok?’ she asked. He shook his head. She looked over to Bruce who was frowning.  
‘I’ll get him a doctors appointment as soon as I can.’

‘What do you mean he’s deaf?’ Bruce demanded.  
‘I mean what I said.’ Dr Vinter sighed. In the end Bruce had decided to take Tim back to the lab where the accident had occurred. Dr Elina Vinter, the woman who had explained everything to him, had agreed to give Tim a look over.  
‘How could this have happened?’  
‘It’s most likely he already had mild difficulties or was at risk and the “incident” worsened the condition.  It’s unlikely to have any impact on the other boys but it’ll probably get worse over time.’ Bruce breathed a sigh of relief and looked over to Tim who was playing with a toy fire truck he’d brought with him. He wasn’t making any noises like you’d expect from a four-year-old but he seemed happy enough.  
‘It’s a good job I already know sign language.’ He stood up and shook Dr Vinter’s hand. ‘Well thank you for your help.’ He helped Tim back into his coat and lead him back outside.  
‘I suppose we’d better get you something to eat.’ They walked to a café just down the road where they could eat, sat in a quiet corner.  
‘Tim I’d like to show you something.’ Tim looked up. Bruce held up his left hand in a fiist, with his palm facing Tim, before slipping his thumb between his fore finger and middle finger so that the fore finger was slightly raised.  
‘Can you do this?’ he asked. Tim nodded and copied him.  
‘Good boy.’ He then signed an I and then an M, Tim mimicking his movements.  
‘Do you know what you just did?’ Shake. ‘You just said your name. And if you want we can teach you how to say other things. Would you like that?’ A nod.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's so short. I promise the next one will be longer.


End file.
